President Thomas S. Monson

So, last week my Dad was made the Bishop in my home ward and this week was there stake conference, so I thought I’d go and sustain my Dad in his new calling. My Mom and I were running a little late, as usual, we got there just as they were giving the opening prayer. We walked and sat by my Dad and brother Matts. Before we had even sat down Matts turns to me and says, “President Monson is here”, to which I said “I know” (They had announced that while I was walking in). Then he pointed to a couple sitting three rows in front of us on the other side of the isle in clear view of us and said, “That’s him.” That was surprising. I knew full well why he and his wife were there, there daughter is in my stake and, as she has just been called to be on the Young Women General Board Presidency, she was speaking at the conference. But I had still been expecting him to be up on the stand, or at least in the front of the chapel. But he was sitting in the back, so far back that he was in overflow sitting on the metal folding chairs. It was just such a neat thing to be able to sustain the Prophet while he was sitting right there, like a normal person, and to see him sustain his own calling and those of his fellow apostils.
Of course, Pres Crocker invited him to say a few words at the end, which he did. He told the story of how he first saw Frances, and of there first date, and the missionary connection there (we had herd from a pair of brothers, on returning form his mission, one leaving) and the stories of how he was called to be a bishop, member of the stake presidency and an apostle, and then he told a story where he was tubing down the Provo river when he was young and was able to save the life of a young girl who could not swim, and was drowning. The moral of that story is that God knows who we are, and what we are capable of, and he is preparing us to be ready for opportunities that will come our way in this life. It was such a neat experience, and I am so thankful for it, and for the church in my life. What a great Sunday.